


We Don't Need (Things Like) Memories

by cherrycola94



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort/Angst, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Ric Grayson Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29592126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrycola94/pseuds/cherrycola94
Summary: Slipping through the fingers of the fastest man alive.Wally thinks.How fucking depressing.(Or; Wally West refuses to give up on his best friend. No matter what anyone else might say about him.)
Relationships: Barbara Gordon & Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Wally West, Dick Grayson/Wally West, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne
Comments: 2
Kudos: 73





	We Don't Need (Things Like) Memories

**Author's Note:**

> ok so i refuse to read the entirety of that ric grayson run it’s way too painful

The cab’s on park, which is even worse than idle.

Part of Wally wishes someone else walked up to the car for a taxi ride. The other part yells at him to “man up” and “deal with your feelings.” A shaved head-- the head of his best friend-- reflects the high afternoon sunlight back through the windshield in an odd, intimidating way. As he scrolls through something on his phone, Wally notices that the rubber Superman case was swapped for a plain black one.

Dick looks so different.

Not only because of the fresh, ugly scar his surgery had left along his scalp, or the shaved egg-like head, but he looked… angrier in a certain way. A lot more raw and spontaneous. If he came back to Wally, if he regained his memory, Wally wasn’t really sure what he’d do or how to act after seeing him seethe at the world from behind the cab’s windows. He felt like he was seeing something he wasn’t supposed to see.

Wally stands glued to the spot a little longer, hoping that someone jumped into the cab before he walked up to Dick-- no,  _ Ric _ \-- and got him to drive them away. But since Wally’s the luckiest person in the world, nobody comes when he wants them too. Maybe someone would come if he  _ needed _ them to. Maybe he didn’t need anyone right now.

Armed with as much confidence he can muster, he walks over to the cab with purpose and knocks on the glass. Ric’s head turns sharply toward the sound.

“Hello?” Wally asks in the same voice he’d greet drunk people with, back when he worked at Wendy’s in high school. The window of the yellow cab rolls down with the push of a button and without its slight tint in front of Ric’s face, Wally can see how tired he really is. He feels a pang of guilt for not pulling himself together earlier and coming here to check up on Ric.

“Whaddya want?” Ric snaps in an unfamiliar tone, raising an eyebrow. The annoyance lacing his voice--- Dick’s voice-- sounds really strange. Before Wally speaks again, he makes a pact to himself to pretend that Ric’s a whole other person. Just to make the whole interaction easier. Ric was now another person temporarily filling in for/possessing his best friend. He breathes in and spits out his next line with a little bit of edge. Something that says  _ we’re not so different, you and I. _

“I wanna ride,” Wally jerks his chin to the backseat, refraining from making a bad joke. No matter how rude Ric sounded or how unfamiliar he looked without hair, he still had Dick Grayson’s gorgeous face and the same set jaw and--  _ woah there cowboy. Stop it right there. _ Wally scolds himself.  _ It’s just a face. You’re getting off track. _

Right, so Ric glares at Wally for a second before unlocking the car door with a  _ click. _ Wally sits down at the back, sinking into the cab seat. He makes sure he’s visible from the rearview mirror before pulling the seatbelt across his body. The doors lock with another  _ click _ and Ric shifts from park to drive.

“Where to?” Ric’s piercing blue eyes make contact with his via the mirror. 

“Surprise me,”

“If you’re here to fuck around with me, I’m not gonna tolerate it,” The doors unlock,  _ click. _ “I need a destination or I’m gonna need you to leave.”

Wow. Now Wally’s certain that this guy  _ really _ wasn’t his Dick Grayson. Dick Grayson would’ve used that opportunity to spit out a smooth pickup line.

“Alright. I need to go to… the city center,”

Ric clicks his tongue and laughs in a way that doesn’t sound like a laugh, but like an expression of annoyance. “That’s pretty far from here. You could’ve taken the bus,”

“The city center in  _ Gotham,” _ Wally adds. It would be enough time on the highway to be able to really talk to Ric. Get to see how much was different about his friend, maybe jog a few old memories (though who was Wally kidding? It would take a miracle for him to shove a few photos into Ric’s face and have him suddenly remember the good ol’ days).

Ric’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline and then just as quickly fall back down over his eyes. “You ever heard of a train, pretty boy? They ain’t as expensive as a cab ride,”

“Money isn’t a problem for me,” Wally said, trying to ignore the fact that Ric called him  _ pretty boy. _ Maybe his teasing, joking friend was under all of that angst. Anyway, a hundred dollar cab ride was nothing compared to the value of bringing Dick back, and getting rid of this imposter. “I get… anxious on trains.”

“Whatever gingey,” Ric shakes his head. Wally cringes at the nickname and he’s pretty sure Ric catches the small movement. They don’t say anything. “Gotham’s city center, comin’ right up.”

Wally looks down at his phone, scrolling through old photos on his photo album up until they’re on the highway. Now, Ric couldn’t avoid his questions or dump him onto the side of the street.

“So, I know that  _ you _ know that you’re Dick Grayson,” Wally pockets his phone and leans as far forward as he can in his seat.

“You’re a Bat-Bitch, aren’t you,” Ric rolls his eyes, stepping harder on the gas.

“Bat-- no! I know the Bats, but I don’t work with them,” Wally’s taken aback by the sudden accusation. “I’m here to bring you back.”

Ric stares out the windshield and for a second Wally thinks he didn’t hear him, but then he asks; “What’s your name, pretty boy?”

“Wally. Wally West,”

“Well, I can’t come back,  _ Wally,” _ Ric says. Wally hates how he says his name, the way it sounds like he’s testing it out for the first time. He missed the familiarity and the  _ love _ Dick said his name with-- like his name alone was the secret to the universe. He missed  _ Dick. _ He had this overwhelming urge to punch Ric in the face until he let Dick back out into the world.

“So… you think you can’t c--” Wally cuts himself off before he says more.

It wasn’t Ric’s fault that he woke up from his coma, confused. It must have been frustrating, not being able to remember how your entire life was before getting shot in the head and then having a bunch of caped crusaders telling you that you were one of them. That you were the vigilante Nightwing, responsible for reducing the crime rate of an  _ entire _ city all on his own. All that pressure, it was no wonder Ric cracked under it.

“D-- Ric, why  _ can’t _ you come back?”

“Honestly?” Ric laughs, but he sounds mad. Like how Wally’s dad sounded before he started yelling. “I  _ was _ ready for the few seconds of solitude I had, alone in that room. I woke up, and I thought about callin’ up some people from my old life.” Ric clenches the steering wheel. “But after meeting all those… caped  _ freaks _ I don’t want to return to my old life. Listen, all they’ve been telling me is--” Ric’s tone takes on a bitter, mocking edge.  _ “The city needs Nightwing,  _ Dick _ , This team needs Nightwing, Batman needs Nightwing.” _ He runs a hand over his scalp.  _ “Nightwing, Nightwing, Nightwing.” _

Ric sighs loudly. “Y’know Wally? I didn’t really have an opinion on his-- on  _ my  _ old name. I thought it was a little bold, but with every visit from that Barbara chick and Bruce Wayne, I’ve grown to fucking  _ hate _ it.”

Wally lets Ric’s words sink in.

“It’s not  _ Nightwing  _ I want, Ric,” Wally leans back into his seat. “I want Dick Grayson.”

Ric scoffs. “Same difference,” He glances at Wally in the rearview mirror, a split second. “Actually, I think my family wants Nightwing  _ more _ than they want Dick Grayson.”

“That’s not--”

“Not true?” Ric pulls the cab over onto the paved shoulder of the highway. Wally counts three breaths before he starts talking. “Y’know, only  _ three _ people outside of your little visit right now have actually wanted Dick Grayson back. Only  _ three _ people wanted the old me back in their lives. Everybody else wanted Nightwing. They wouldn’t  _ shut up _ about how much they needed  _ fucking _ Nightwing. I bet if I were still amnesiac but wore his goddamn costume, they wouldn’t be able to tell the fucking difference. I don’t think they’d give a shit.” Ric spits out venomously. 

Wally sits in his seat, stunned. 

“I know you’re my friend or whatever and it’s nice to know that you still care about me while I’m…” Ric gestured around the cab, as if it spoke for itself. It did. “But if I come back with you… if I come back to Gotham holding your hand or some shit, they’re going to throw that suit at me and expect me to join their ranks.” Ric sniffs and Wally only then notices that his eyes are puffy and slightly red. “Uh. Bruce Wayne showed me a video of myself getting shot in my head and I--” He coughs, an attempt to cover up a moment of weakness.

“I’m sorry about that,” Wally says. 

“Eh, wasn’t  _ your _ fault,”

Wally doesn’t know what to say, so they sit in silence until Ric parks in front of the city center.

“Here,” He says. For once, his voice sounds emotionless. Devoid of anger. Nothing like Wally’s friend. “A hundred and seventeen.”

Wally swipes his credit card down the meter and punches in the code, but doesn’t unbuckle his seatbelt.

“I think I understand,” Wally says after a moment of silence. “Not wanting to go back.”

Ric’s face softens. “You-- you’re not gonna try anything?”

“Look, I know how hard it must be. Losing everything about yourself, not knowing what to do, and all that stress of being a vigilante,” Wally puts his hand on Ric’s shoulder. “I can understand wanting a break from it all.”

“I’m not sure I want it to be just a break,” Ric mumbles. “I honestly don’t think I’m cut out for that type of life, Wally.”

“That’s okay,” Wally pats Ric’s shoulder. “Look man, I just want my friend back. I’ll help you remember whatever you want and whatever you need, I just want  _ Dick Grayson _ back.”

Ric smiles at him. It looks genuine. And a little sad. 

“That makes one of us.”

**Author's Note:**

> i was going to make this angst to fluff but then i made it smut (don’t even ask) but then i decided to make it angst again. part two coming soonish. 
> 
> ALSO: if you got the title’s reference, you're rad


End file.
